Denture polisher with manually operable drive

ABSTRACT

A rotary polisher of the kind used for polishing hand held objects such as dentures has a drive motor mounted in a base frame with a main drive wheel connected for direct drive by the drive motor. A tool holder drive shaft has a rotary tool at one end and a tool drive wheel which is engagable with the main drive wheel to rotate the tool holder drive shaft and rotary tool. A manually operated lever mechanism is connected between the base frame and the tool holder drive shaft to move the tool drive wheel into and out of engagement with the main drive wheel for controlling rotation of the rotary tool.

United States Patent [191 Lookadoo 1 Sept. 2, 1975 DENTURE POLISHER WITH MANUALLY OPERABLE DRIVE [76] Inventor: Weldon R. Lookadoo, 26 San Miguel, Salinas, Calif. 93901 22 Filed: May 10,1974

21 Appl. No.: 468,755

32/23, 24, 26, 59; 279/79, 23 R, 1 SG; 74/206, 213, 209, 205, 207; 403/356, 359, 358

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 449,401 3/1891 Bonwill 32/26 X 787,350 4/1905 Alford 32/23 X 868,812 10/1907 32/26 X 2,086,830 7/1937 74/207 X 2,259,797 10/1941 32/26 X 2,476,762 7/1949 279/79 X 2,839,696 6/1958 Dunham 5l/134.5 R X Primary Examiner-Al Lawrence Smith Assistant Examiner-Nicholas 1P. Godici Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Owen, Wickersham &

Erickson [5 7] ABSTRACT A rotary polisher of the kind used for polishing hand held objects such as dentures has a drive motor mounted in a base frame with a main drive wheel connected for direct drive by the drive motor. A tool holder drive shaft has a rotary tool at one end and a tool drive wheel which is engagable with the main drive wheel to rotate the tool holder drive shaft and rotary tool. A manually operated lever mechanism is connected between the base frame and the tool holder drive shaft to move the tool drive wheel into and out of engagement with the main drive wheel for controlling rotation of the rotary tool.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEP ems sum 1 0f 2 DENTURE POLISHER WITH MANUALLY OPERABLE DRIVE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a rotarypolisher of the kind used for polishing hand held objects. It relates particularly to a rotary polisher for polishing dentures.

The cleaning of dentures is a continuing problem for people who wear dentures.

The cleaning technique generally used is one in which the dentures are soaked in a solution. The solution will clean the dentures, but the soaking does require a certain amount of time. There is some concern that the strong, active ingredients of the solution may present a health hazard to the user if the denture is not properly rinsed off after soaking. The denture plate also does not have a high shine after such a cleaning.

A high shine is desirable not only because of appearance but also because the more the denture plate is polished the less food will stick to the plate.

Odors soaking into the acrylic of the denture plate are also a problem to the wearers of the dentures.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION It is a primary object of the present invention to construct a rotary polisher which cleans and polishes dentures. It is a closely related object to construct the polisher in a way that it can be readily used by any person who wears dentures.

The rotary polisher of the present invention has a drive motor mounted in a base frame with a main drive wheel connected for direct drive by the drive motor.

A tool holder drive shaft has a rotary tool releasably mounted at one end and a tool drive wheel which is engagable with the main drive wheel to rotate the tool holder drive shaft and rotary tool. A lever mechanism is connected between the base frame and the tool holder drive shaft for moving the tool drive wheel into and out of engagement with the main drive wheel to control the rotation of the rotary tool.

This lever mechanism includes a first lever member having an operating end positioned to be engaged by the heel of the operators hand. The operator can press down on this operating end with the heel of his hand while he positions the denture being polished with the fingers of both hands. Pressing down this operating end acts through the rest of the lever mechanism to swing the tool drive wheel into engagement with the main drive wheel and start rotation of the rotary tool.

When the operator releases the force on the lever, a release spring acts on the lever mechanism to disengage the tool drive wheel from the main drive wheel to stop the rotation of the rotary tool.

The lever mechanism includes a tension spring which is connected between different parts of the lever mechanism for resiliently engaging the tool drive Wheel with the main drive wheel. I

The tool holder drive shaft has a tubular end formed with a keyway, and the rotary tool has an axially projecting mounting shaft dimensioned to fit within the tubular end. The shaft has a key which fits in the keyway. Thus, when the key is inserted in the keyway. one side of the keyway engages the key to impart the rotational force to the tool. The key has a contoured outer surface. A resilient spring clip is mounted on the tool holder drive shaft near the keyway. The clip engages the key to hold the shaft ofthe tool in a fixed axial position within the tubular end of the drive shaft during normal operation of the polislher. When it is desired to remove or to replace the particular tool. the mounting shaft is pulled axiallyout of the tubular end by sliding the key out from under the resilient spring clip.

Thus, different tools can be used for different jobs. When the rotary polisher is used for polishing denture plates, a brush wheel having a bristle brush is used to clean around the teeth, a buff wheel using a combination of tripoli and pumice is used to clean the plate, and a polishing wheel is used in the final operation to put a high shine on the plate.

Other rotary tools can readily be mounted in the tubular end when it is desired to use the rotary polisher for polishing other items, such as fishing lures and silverware.

Rotary polisher apparatus and methods which incor porate the structure and techniques described above and which are effective to function as described above constitute specific objects of this invention.

Other objects, advantages and features of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one preferred embodiment taken with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a rotary polisher constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention and illustrates how the polisher is used to clean a denture plate;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of abrush wheel (used for cleaning around teeth with the rotary polisher shown in FIG. 1), a buff wheel (used for buffing a denture with the rotary polisher shown in FIG. 1), and a bar of a combined pumice and tripoli used with the buff wheel;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the tool holder drive shaft of the rotary polisher shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is partly broken away in section to show details of construction of the spring clip arrangement for releasably retaining different rotary tools in the tool holder drive shaft;

FIG. 4 is an end elevation view taken along the line and in the direction indicated by the arrows 4-4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation view of the rotary polisher shown in FIG. 1 showing the disposition of the parts of the lever mechanism when the tool drive wheel is disengaged from the main drive wheel;

FIG. 6 is an end elevation view like FIG. 5 but showing the operating lever depressed to engage the tool drive wheel with the main drive wheel; and

FIG. 7 is an isometric view ofthe rotary polisher with the operating lever depressed and the lever mechanism parts in the positions shown in FIG. 6. The shield of the rotary polisher has been illustrated in phantom outline in FIG. 7 to permit a clear showing of the parts of the lever mechanism which move the tool drive wheel into and out of engagement with the main drive wheel.

7 DESCRIPTION or THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A rotary polisher constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 in FIGS. 1, 5, 6 and 7.

The rotary polisher includes a base frame having an horizontally extending lower frame member 12a and an upperly extending frame member 12/) (see FIG. 7).

A drive motor 14 is bolted or otherwise connected to the upright frame member 12/) by bolts 16 or other mounting means.

The motor 14 has a drive shaft 18 and a main drive wheel 20 connected for direct drive by the motor (see FIGS. and 6). The main drive wheel 20 is preferably a rubber wheel.

The rotary polisher includes a tool holder drive shaft 22. A tool drive wheel 24 is connected to the tool holder drive shaft 22 near one end of the tool holder drive shaft.

The other end of the tool drive shaft 22 mounts the rotary tool (a brush 26 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, or a buff wheel 27 as shown in FIG. 1, or some other polishing tool). I

As best illustrated in FIG. 3., this end of the shaft 22 is tubular, and each rotary tool used with the polisher has an axially extending mounting shaft 28 which slips within this tubular end.

The tubular end has a keyway 30, and the mounting shaft 28 of each rotary tool has a key 32 which fits within the keyway 30.

The outer surface of each key is contoured to provide a recess 34, and a spring clip 36 retains the key in the keyway during normal use but permits the rotary tool to be readily removed and replaced by sliding the key 32 out from under the clip 36. The clip 36 is welded or otherwise attached to the shaft 22 at one end, and the other end of the clip 36 is formed with a downwardly curved part to form a detent for engagement with the recess 34, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

The extreme end portion of the shaft 22 is preferably flared, as illustrated at 22a, to facilitate insertion of the shaft 28.

As noted above. the tool drive wheel 24 is movable into engagement with the drive wheel 20. to produce the rotation of the rotary tool and is movable away,

from the main drive wheel to end the rotation of the rotary tool.

FIG. 5 shows the wheel 24 disengaged from the maining bar 46 is connected to the other end of the lever 42. I

When the bar 46 is depressed, the lever mechanism 40 acts to swing the wheel 24 into engagement with the main drive wheel 20, as illustrated in FIG. 6.

As illustrated in FIG. I, this bar 46 is positioned so that it is engaged by the heel or side of the operators hand. This permits the operator to start the rotary tool rotating while he holds the denture 50, or other object to be polished, with the fingers of both hands.

This is an operational advantage which makes the polishing operation easier and quicker.

The first lever member 42 also has a stop element 52 which engages other elements of the lever mechanism. as illustrated in FIG. 5, to hold the lever mechanism in a fixed position as illustrated.

A second lever member 54 has one end pivotally connected to the first l'ever member 42 by a pivot 56 at a midpart of the first lever member 42. The other end of the second lever member 54 is pivotally connected by a pivot 58 to an upper end of a third lever member 60. The lower end of the third lever member 60 is pivotally connected by a pivot 62 to one end of a fourth lever member 64.

The upper end of the fourth lever member 64 has a fork 66 which journals the shaft 22 and the tool drive wheel 24 for rotation within that end of the fourth lever member 64. A coiled tension spring 68 is connected between the third and fourth lever members to provide for resilient engagement of the wheels 24 and 20, as illustrated in FIG. 6. The spring 68 is connected at one end to third lever member 60 closely adjacent the pivot 58. The other end of the spring 68 is connected to a mid-portion of the fourth lever member 64.

A release spring member 70 is connected to the vertical frame member 1219 at one end and has a projecting end which engages the inside of the fourth lever member 64, as illustrated in FIG. 7, to bias the lever mechanism 40 toward the position shown in FIG. 5 to disengage the wheels 24 and 20.

The rotary polisher 10 includes a shield 72 which extends over the buff wheel 27, as illustrated in FIG. 1, to catch polishing compounds thrown off of the wheel during a polishing operation. This shield 72 is an integral part of an outer cover 74 for the motor housing. An end cover plate 76 is connected to the lower frame member 12a and the cover member 74, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

The rotary polisher 10 may also preferably include a contoured cover member 78 which shields the operators hands from most of the lever mechanism 40 and drive connection between wheels 20 and 24.

FIG. 1 shows how the polisher 10 is used for a buffing operation on a denture 50.

In cleaning a denture plate, a rotary brush 26 is first used to clean around the teeth. The brush is then removed and replaced by the buff wheel 27.

In accordance with the present invention, a bar 29 of combined tripoli and pumice is used with the buff wheel 27 to clean the plate. By using a combination of the tripoli and pumice. the buffing can be done in a singleoperation rather than in two separate steps as would be required if these buffing materials were used separately.

Finally. a polishing wheel (not illustrated) is used to put a high shine on the denture plate.

The present invention thus provides a compact, relatively inexpensive rotary polisher which is especially adapted for home use by a person wearing dentures to clean and polish dentures in a convenient and highly effective way.

The rotary polisher of the present invention can also be used for polishing other small objects such as fishing lures and silverware. It can be converted to such uses quickly by an easy and simple installation of whatever rotary tool is required.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differirig embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

tool drive wheel with the main drive wheel and l. A rotary polisher of the kind used for polishing wherein the lever means include a second lever hand held objects such as dentures and comprising, member pivotally connected to the first member, a a frame. third lever member pivotally connected to the sec- I claim:

of coacting lever members and include a first lever member connected to the frame by a first pivot and having an operating end positioned so as to be en gageable by the operators hand and movable about the first pivot under a manually applied force to cause the rest of the lever means to engage the a drive motor mounted on the frame and having a 5 0nd lever member and afourth lever member havmain drive wheel connected for direct drive by the ing one end pivotally connected to the third lever drive motor, member and having the tool holder drive shaft a tool holder drive shaft having a rotary tool at one journalled for rotation in the other end of the end and a tool drive wheel engageable with the fourth lever member and including a tension spring main drive wheel to rotate the tool holder drive 10 connected between the third lever member and the shaft and rotary tool. fourth lever member for resiliently urging the tool and lever means for moving the tool drive wheel into drive wheel into engagement with the main drive and out of engagement with the main drive wheel wheel when the operator applies said manual force to thereby control the rotation of the rotary tool to the operating end of the first lever member. and wherein the lever means comprise a plurality 2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said spring is connected to the third lever member at a point closely adjacent the pivotal connection between the second and third lever members and is connected to fourth lever. 

1. A rotary polisher of the kind used for polishing hand held objects such as dentures and comprising, a frame, a drive motor mounted on the frame and having a main drive wheel connected for direct drive by the drive motor, a tool holder drive shaft having a rotary tool at one end and a tool drive wheel engageable with the main drive wheel to rotate the tool holder drive shaft and rotary tool, and lever means for moving the tool drive wheel into and out of engagement with the main drive wheel to thereby control the rotation of the rotary tool and wherein the lever means comprise a plurality of coacting lever members and include a first lever member connected to the frame by a first pivot and having an operating end positioned so as to be engageable by the operator''s hand and movable about the first pivot under a manually applied force to cause the rest of the lever means to engage the tool drive wheel with the main drive wheel and wherein the lever means include a second lever member pivotally connected to the first member, a third lever member pivotally connected to the second lever member and a fourth lever member having one end pivotally connected to the third lever member and having the tool holder drive shaft journalled for rotation in the other end of the fourth lever member and including a tension spring connected between the third lever member and the fourth lever member for resiliently urging the tool drive wheel into engagement with the main drive wheel when the operator applies said manual force to the operating end of the first lever member.
 2. The invention defined in cLaim 1 wherein said spring is connected to the third lever member at a point closely adjacent the pivotal connection between the second and third lever members and is connected to the fourth lever member at about the mid-part of the fourth lever. 